Friday, November 30, 2012

Christmas 2012

Apparently the Christmas season has begun, I am writing in mid-November. So I was told by a young man I visited recently. Apparently the first Christmas adverts were on telly, the first house has their Christmas lights illuminated and so once Halloween was over the Christmas season had begun.

When does your Christmas season begin? What are the signs that you look for? Certainly in our house preparations are beginning, a festival is being planned; a cake has been stirred, food is being stored and plans for the purchase of presents are underway. Actually I am more comfortable with this early preparation than I used to be. Both the material and the spiritual preparations are important. In a few days̢۪ time (for me) Celtic Advent will begin. The people who first brought Christianity to these shores always marked Advent for the full 40 days prior to Christmas. These days were to be days of preparation; of prayer and fasting as the festival was approached.

It is relatively easy to bemoan our society's preparation for Christmas, the excesses of consumption are clear for all to see. It is harder to work out how as Christians and as a church we can redeem the core of this "Winter Festival." As Dickens implies in his great novel a Christmas Carol, a mean minded Scrooge approach is not the answer. Judaism always celebrated festivals, memorials and reminders of God's decisive acts in the past. So too Jesus himself was reviled by some as too much of a "party" animal, mixing consistently with the "wrong" crowd. Our own calling as those who call upon the name of Jesus must then be to mirror that sense of inclusion and joy. We of all people have a very real reason to celebrate. Jesus instructs us to be light in the world, not damp squibs!

The Festival which is Christmas is a great opportunity to offer those around us a really alternative vision of society. I do not believe that vision should be as pious, "holier than thou" kill joys, but as those who have real and lasting hope in a God who we believe is good. We believe God himself has entered into the story of humanity, both his birth and indeed his teaching and death show the story of hope and redemption. We are called to co-operate and even become part of that story. Light has dawned; God has generously given us new hope. To a society where consumerism reigns; still dominant even though bruised by years of fiscal decline, we have a different story to offer. We celebrate love, because God has loved us, we celebrate gifts, because God has come as a gift to the world, we truly rejoice because this is a season to rejoice: hope has entered the world, and even though crucified it cannot and will not be defeated. We are called not simply to prepare for Christmas and indeed to celebrate Christmas, the invitation to us is deeper: we are called to BE Christmas, to become part of the message of Good News that infiltrates the world with light.
"The people walking in darkness have seen a great light." And that light should be us, radiant joyful and hopeful: Christmas people with a lasting hope in our hearts. And please God a smile on our lips!

Stephen

PS Some of you will know that I have a Sabbatical planned for next year from Feb to April inclusive. I will be studying how the church must become more engaged with God's Mission in the world. I also plan to cycle to Lindisfarne: Holy Island as a sort of modern day pilgrimage. I am hoping as part of this I can raise money for two charities that I will visit next summer in Uganda: Mission Direct and Romans 1:11. I will also have some costs myself that I may need help with. If you would like to help me in any way please contact me stephen@zuchurch.co.uk. I will be cycling 400+ miles!!